Beyond the Beaches

As I write this, I’m sitting on a balcony in the Dominican Republic, listening to the wind rustle through the palm trees. It is peaceful – the quiet only broken when I slap a mosquito off my bare arms.

Tomorrow morning, Rick and I leave for a week-long trip in the Sierra de Bahoruco, a mountain range in the western Dominican Republic. We will be joining a group of coleopterists (beetle biologists) as they search for new beetles. The expedition is part of a longer-term project to create a field guide to the longhorn beetles of the Dominican Republic. Rick is helping with the guide, both as a photographer and co-author, and I get to tag along with my camera. It is great to be back out in the field!

Sasha, a beetle biologist, uses an aspirator to suck tiny beetles off a sheet in the forest

I plan to make a few posts about this trip when I return, but I thought I’d share some exciting news before I go off into the mountains:

iLCP: I was recently accepted into the Emerging League of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP). I’ll be a part of the Emerging League for the next three years and hope that this incredible mentoring program will help me make my conservation photography projects more effective. You can learn more about iLCP here: http://www.ilcp.com
National Geographic Creative: My work is now represented by National Geographic Creative, the stock photography branch of National Geographic: http://www.natgeocreative.com/ngs/
Instagram and Twitter: You can now follow me on Instagram at @gabbyrsalazar and Twitter at @gabbyrsalazar.
Gardens & Grilles Workshop in Richmond, Virginia: I will be teaching a photography workshop in Richmond, Virginia from March 19^th – 22^nd, 2015 with Jamie Konarski Davidson of New Life Photos. The workshop will be both classroom and field-based and will be limited to 10 participants for more personalized instruction. If you are interested in learning more, please email me at gabby.r.salazar@gmail.com or download flyer here: front and back.